It’s not an exaggeration to say that a hotel changed Zack Gharib’s life. In fact, he used those very words.
As a basketball player at Lebanese American University in Beirut, Gharib and his team took a trip to Athens, Greece, for a tournament. “That experience really just changed my entire life,” he said. “I was in awe of the setting and the environment and the hospitality. I got to meet the general manager of the hotel; actually, we spoke multiple times. Hotels sounded really exciting and amazing, something that I could see myself in. It’s like I was born to do it.”
After obtaining his bachelor's degree in business management from LAU, Gharib came to the U.S. to pursue his master's degree in restaurant, hotel and institutional management at Texas Tech University. Recruited by White Lodging Services just out of college, he credits those early career years as both foundational and transformative, nodding to White Lodging’s leadership and management programs that “set his career in the right way.” Roles such as housekeeping manager, front desk manager and director of operations eventually opened the doors for assistant GM and GM roles with Marriott; GM, director and ultimately VP of franchise services at Wyndham’s La Quinta brand, and then, Gharib said, “I took a little bit of a detour.” As senior regional director for Vacasa, he managed a portfolio of more than 3,500 single- and multi-family vacation rentals. Following a less-than-two-year stint as senior VP of operations for real estate investment and hospitality management company Highgate, Gharib took the helm at Red Roof.
A Winning Formula
Gharib said he is approaching his role as president “with an eye for change and elevation, but not necessarily disruption.” Red Roof is already an “established, iconic” brand, and a leader in the economy segment, he noted. “We're a trailblazer in the economy extended-stay segment. We have a winning formula already, so I don't want to disrupt the core elements that have been a part of the success of our brand for 51 years. However, at the same time, investing in people, technology, in things that will improve everything that we do going forward, everything our franchisees do going forward, and how our employees perceive the [Red Roof] culture and vision is something that we're thinking about on a daily basis.”
Short-term goals for Gharib include understanding the Red Roof franchisee community, how they feel about the industry and the brand, and what's working and not working for them; understanding team members and their strengths and what the company can improve on. His long-term goals are driving growth and consistency in the brand and, ultimately, profitability for the brand and its franchisees, alongside the evergreen goal for all brands: elevating the guest experience.
A People-First Philosophy
Gharib said he approaches success from his “people first” philosophy. Critical internal metrics include ensuring employee buy-in on the company’s mission and vision, measuring employees’ engagement and satisfaction and living the brand’s core values of hospitality, adaptability, belonging, impact, trust and success (“HABITS”). On the franchisee front, “nothing makes me happier than hearing franchisees saying, ‘Red Roof is a great brand. I am successful,’ or ‘I built a new hotel because Red Roof delivered for me and really helped me succeed, for my business, for my family,’ that's a great measurement.” Gharib said he also measures success by the community advocacy around the brand, and of course, guest satisfaction.
“To me, [ultimately], the measurement is, how are we making the people feel who are invested in us most—our employees, our franchisees, our communities, our guests? If there's a sense of satisfaction and happiness and pride to be part of [the brand], then we have achieved success.”
Beyond future growth and profitability, Gharib said he wants to see a more diverse brand that is welcoming and inclusive of different races, from a cultural perspective and at the same time, in underserved markets. A pioneer in hospitality diversity and inclusion efforts, Red Roof’s Road to Inclusion and Diversity in Entrepreneurship (RIDE) initiative is the brand’s platform for supporting growth and business expansion for hotel owners and franchisees, and Gharib said he is very proud of it. “Knowing that more than 35 percent of our ownership are women, and now we're inviting more diverse owners—there's that excitement in that aspect. That's also a differentiation point for our brand,” he shared.
Though ‘location, location, location’ is a popular adage in real estate, Gharib said that three words from an instrumental figure from his La Quinta days truly shape his business approach. Working with former La Quinta president Rajiv Trivedi, “his three words were always ‘relationship, relationship, relationship,’” said Gharib.” And that's always stuck with me.” Gharib also recalled an interaction he had with Bill Marriott when Gharib served as the housekeeping manager on the opening team at the full-service Marriott in downtown Indianapolis. He shared that Mr. Marriott told him that a major priority in everything he did would be to ‘take care of this team.’ “That shaped my philosophy,” Gharib said. “Take care of your team. They'll take care of your guests. And now, in the franchise world, they'll take care of our franchisees, and it has served me well.” HM
RED ROOF
Headquarters: New Albany, Ohio
Structure: Hotel franchise company with four brands in the economy and midscale extended-stay markets
Portfolio: 700+ hotels
Website: redroof.com
This article was originally published in the September edition of Hotel Management magazine. Subscribe here.